Silent Retreat
by Pen to Paper Writer
Summary: Mike Royce had fallen into the lure of money. Kate had lost all faith in him even if she did love him. When he died she went after his killer with a vengeance. The problem with her being so focused on his murder had been noticed by someone who wanted her for her skills, for evil. Someone who was on the wrong side of law and order, someone who'd never stop to get what he wanted.
1. Chapter 1

Los Angles. The City of Angles. Due to popular belief, this city is not filled with angles like everyone thinks. Quite the opposite is the case. Gangs have had a foothold in this city since before the 1920's. Sure back then it was more of a civil war of sorts dealing with protesters who wanted a better life and demanded to be treated equally. While the people who lost their lives to those early protests had been few, it set the city on a path that would only increase those deaths in the coming years.

The mob was the first to see the potential of Los Angles. They had set up shop in the late 40's and as time went by they started to branch out into the middle-class neighborhoods. They peddled everything from women to the early introduction of the drug trade.

The sixties were a turbulent time for LA. The Watts Riots had set the stage for relations between the citizens of LA and the police to only become more stained. All in all, LA was starting to be sectioned off and claimed by various gangs as their own territory. As with the need for newer technology became dominant, so did the creation of a newer different type of drug. A designer drug if you will. Easily obtained and relatively inexpensive. Crack cocaine was now quickly overtaking the population of the poor and the rich neither was spared. South central LA had once been a prosperous area. Since the influx of the Mexican and South American immigrants into the area had been massive, they settled for taking the most basic jobs, thus lowering the rate of pay they received. South central LA was now seeing a drop in employment and a rise in major crimes.

In the 80's LA saw an increase in gangs that popped up out of thin air. The Crips and the Bloods were the two major gangs at war with each other at the time. Most of the unknown gangs were members who wanted a bigger piece of the drug trade knowing that it was easy to be had if they started their own gangs. Drugs were dealt with little prosecution from the law. and the ones that were caught and tried usually spent only a short time incarcerated. It was as if they could care less about being caught selling what they offered. Doing time to them was part of the business. If they were confronted by a member of a rival gang, all either a Crip or Blood member had to do to make his point known was to show his handgun and threaten that he was not afraid to use it. The same went for the police. They were fearless.

When he was growing up he like any other young boy wanted to be so many things. Cowboy, Fireman, Astronaut, Fighter Pilot the list was endless. As he grew into adolescence he realized that where he lived those dreams were not to become a reality. He never lost hope, though. That was until his foster mother and father were brutally murdered when he was 13. He lived with them in Hawthorne. A part of South Central LA. A decent neighborhood, but ever since the gangs had moved in and taken the area as their own, life had changed. He still went to high school which was about 3 blocks from where he lived. He hated the walk. He was always approached by a gang member on the way to school or on the way back home asking or rather persuading him to become one of them. At first, he brushed them off and his resistance to their requests usually ended up with him arriving at school with more than the threat. He'd been given a reminder that he was to join or else. His first beat down resulted in a busted lip and a broken nose. Mild for the type of gang he was dealing with. Time went on and the beatings had become more intense. Usually two or three a week. He had just started to recuperate from the first beating and they would be at it again a day later. Since he was now alone, Child Protective Services had stepped in when the school's principal had informed them about the condition he arrived in for the school day. At first, they thought that he was being abused by his foster parents. He would in no way tell them that they were killed because of the gangs that infested his neighborhood it would automatically get him back in the system to be placed with another set of foster parents. The fact that CPS had not picked up on his foster parents being murdered was in his favor. He could say that the system had lost track of him and then he fell through the cracks in that system. And he liked that he did. He would be 14 soon and he had the street smarts to survive in his element.

He had the resources to get by with the cash that his foster parents had hidden. He knew where they had placed most of it around the house probably to protect either him from knowing its location or to keep it safe from the criminal element. Either way, the cash he would not last forever. He had enough to keep the lights on and bills paid for about six months at best. He was resourceful for a kid. Being raised in south central had taught you that. The beatings had continued even with changing his route to school. They were determined to get him into their gang. Knowing that if he did join he'd never leave alive. He was able to find a job through a program that the school had sponsored. He worked for just above the minimum wage. He was able to keep living at the house on West 129th street in Hawthorne. He would not be able to go to college after he graduated next year, but that was okay. He had ambitions and after he left high school he would put his plan into effect. Ambitions that would make him very, very wealthy. The gangs had slowed their attacks in recent years after he had the balls to fight back one afternoon while walking home from school.

"Gringo, won't you ever learn? You'll eventually become one of us." The first gang member told him.

"Yeah, come on there's no need for you to get beat up every other day." Said the other gang member as he came down with a solid right hook to his face.

He looked through his now swelling right eye at his attackers and told himself that enough was enough. He landed a roundhouse kick to the second gang members head knocking him backward and falling on his back, knocking the air from his lungs. As he tried to regain his own breath, he faced the first gang member and struck a jab to his throat almost crushing his windpipe. As he bent over trying to breathe again, he raised his knee to his head. Caught unaware by this sequence of moves the gang member lost consciousness immediately. He walked away and headed home. He had had enough. Three years now and you think they'd get the message. He was going to make it out of this place alive.

Graduation day for him was a dismal affair. He had no one sitting in the swarm of parents that he could call his own. Of all the homes he had been bounced around to when he was younger, the Grabowski's were by far his favorites. It's a shame that they were killed after seeing something they shouldn't have. After walking up and receiving his diploma, he shook the principal's hand and then shook the hand of their special guest of honor the Mayor of Los Angles James Hahn. When he walked the steps down from the stage he was done. Nothing would stop him now from reaching his goals.

For all the hell he went through avoiding the gangs in the earlier part of his life he would never question the path his life had taken when he graduated high school. He was an adviser of sorts. And now that he had built something so profitable that he was placed in a position of power. He held all the cards and for the most part, no law enforcement agency had connected him to any of it. He had created a network of guns for hire. That was his main specialty. Since that had paid him so well he branched out in finding the impossible items that people wanted him to acquire. This ranged from high explosives to priceless works of art and other hard to get items. Of course, the client had paid him handsomely for his efforts, only further increasing his wealth.

This is why he could not pass up the request from one of his clients to obtain a certain type of ammunition. At first, he did not believe the request. There was no way that a company had developed a dissolvable, traceless kind of bullet. That was until he did a lot of research on the topic. What he found amazed him to no end. He would get this type of ammunition and in the process, reward himself with some of it for his personal use. The applications were unlimited. He pulled off the first theft with ease. Lax security and a quick getaway made it possible for him to abscond with 7 cases of 9-millimeter rounds and 3 cases of .40 caliber rounds. Seeing each case of 50 rounds sold to the highest bidder he noticed that the product was now in high demand. So, he decided to return back to the company that made them he did so with the intention and planning that after the first theft they would strengthen their security.

He was almost home free until he was spotted by a woman as he left. Not wanting to give chase due to his recently acquired reward he quickly stored the ammunition in the back of the stolen van for later retrieval. He searched for this woman and since she only had a short head start on him it was easy to find out where she went and who she was. Knowing where she lived it was now time to eliminate one Violet Young. He would use the newly acquired dissolvable bullets so no trace of her death could be tied to him. No, Russell Ganz was no fool. He'd do everything in his power to protect his empire, including murder.

 **A/N: This story will not be a story that I will be able to post a chapter for every Sunday, but I will try. I do apologize in advance. With three open fics and a full-time job sometimes it's hard to post on time. If this story is something you want to read more of then please send me a PM or leave a review. Thanks for reading what I post here!**

A/N:2 The summary is not really the best way to describe this story, I really am that bad at writing them! But this should be an interesting tale to tell. So come on in sit a while and read.

 **P2P**


	2. Chapter 2

Violet Young was running out of options. She was scared shitless at what she had seen and what could happen to her. While she was on her run past the headquarters of Kelvin North America she had made the mistake of running past the rear of the building near the shipping and receiving area. It was a short cut that would result in her fearing for her life. As she ran through she took note of the door that was ajar. Slowing her run to a quick walk she started to move towards the door her curiosity now piqued. Just as she was about to reach out for the door handle to open the door, she was met with a man exiting said door in a hurry. He was carrying 2 large crates. She looked into his eyes and what she noticed was the fact that his eyes were cold and unforgiving. This is the point when she thought that this man would stop at nothing to get to her.

Xx

Mike Royce was at his favorite sports bar. He was so totally into the Dodgers game since it was the bottom of the 4th and they had the lead by one run so much so that he never heard his phone ring. Well, the noise in the bar sure did not help either. Just as he left the men's restroom he heard it ring again. Swiping to answer it, he brings it to his ear and he's met with a frantic woman's voice on the other end. The voice is one that he's not familiar with so he tries to calm her down.

"Wait a minute sweetheart. Slow down and take a breath, okay?"

"Okay! But you don't understand he's going to kill me.!"

"Who is?"

"It's a long story. Can we meet somewhere?"

Royce was never one who'd turn anybody away who needed help. So, he reluctantly agreed to meet this woman.

"Okay, but first what's your name?"

"It's Violet, Violet Young."

"Violet, there's a diner in LA off South Main Street called The Nickle Diner. But since you feel your life is in danger use the alley entrance off East 5th Street. Werdin Place is the name of the alleyway that leads to the rear entrance."

"What time?"

Royce takes a look at his watch and tells her to meet him at 10 pm.

He has time so he does a search for Violet Young. He finds out that she is an aspiring actress, and she has been in a "B" movie. He wonders why she thinks her life is in danger. He heads out to the diner because a little advance surveillance time would never hurt. As he parks his Challenger he notices nothing out of the ordinary. He enters the diner and takes a booth looking towards the door and windows. He scans the crowd for any threats. When the waitress comes over he orders a coffee, black.

Xx

Violet got his number from a friend who he'd helped recently. He was a man who always looked out for people, that's what made her call him for his help. She walked along the route he had told her about on the telephone. She turns down the alley and then finds the back door to the diner and enters. She sees him sitting at a booth. Sliding in opposite him she greets him.

"Mr. Royce?"

"Yeah kid, that's me."

"I'm in trouble."

"Alright, let's start with this trouble. Why do think this?"

Violet told Mike what happened when she was on her run and he had heard of Ganz because honestly, this could be only him. Calvin North America was a top military defense contractor. Ganz was ruthless and would stop at nothing to kill her for what she had witnessed. Knowing that he would stop at nothing he pulled his phone out and searched for a flight to JFK. Finding a flight that left at midnight they would be in New York around 8 am the next morning. Then he did not look forward to the next call he needed to make. She was still his first number on his speed dial knowing that she'd be sleeping. He hit the send icon and it rang. After two rings it went to voicemail so he left her one.

He and Violet left the diner for her place if they were going to make the flight in time. She packed quickly and they were speeding down the 110 and since it was late they made it to the airport in no time.

Xx

Kate had just come back from her run and was getting a bottle of water from the fridge when her phone chimed with a voicemail alert. Picking it up she listened to the message.

"Hey kid, it's Royce. I know I got no right to ask, but I need your help. I just got back into town and the fires coming fast. Please, call me."

Kate withdrew the phone and as she did it rang.

"Royce?" She said.

"Beckett?" Her captain asked.

"Sir, what is it?"

"Beckett, I have bad news."

"Go on sir."

"Royce has been murdered. I'm sorry Kate."

"Where is he?"

"Kate listen, there's no reason for you to come out here. We can handle this."

"Sir, he was my T.O. I am going to investigate this!"

Against his better judgment, he gave her the address where Royce was found. He knew that he would never stop her from finding out who killed him.

Xx

Ganz had taken the only operative he could think of that was not involved in a current contract. Mannis was just a little too overeager to go along, and because of this since he was one of his best assassins he knew that he could only use him as a driver. Only because he had a job coming up and he did not want the NYPD to catch wind of him killing Royce. So, he'd do it himself.

Royce was smart. He had somehow taken advantage of the fact that Ganz was looking for him and set a trap. But then again, he'd underestimated his opponent. When Ganz had cornered him in the back of a boarded-up dry cleaner shop he pulled a silenced 9 millimeter and shot him in the right leg. Royce managed to rush Ganz and knock him over and then he limped out of the store out the back door. Falling when he tripped on the uneven pavement, he started to drag himself towards the only hiding place he saw. He made it behind a dumpster and held his breath.

Ganz knew that Royce had nowhere to go. He went directly to the dumpster across the alley and found him. He raised his gun and aimed right at Royce's head as he turned to look at him. Then Ganz told him,

"You should have stayed out of this Royce."

"You have no idea the hell that's about to rain down on you."

Ganz replied with a one word comment "Scary."

At that instant, Ganz just squeezed off a round and ended Mike Royce's life. He left the alley and met back up with Mannis. He thought as Mannis drove to the airport.

"Don, I need you to stay here in New York and find that bitch. I want her dead before I land in LA!"

"I'll make sure that happens." Mannis said through the open window then he left Ganz standing at the terminal at JFK.

 **A/N: The first two chapters were basically following cannon. From this point on this story becomes 100% A/U. Thanks for the favs and follows.**

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	3. Chapter 3

If Richard Castle was good at any one thing in his life, it was the fact he could read anyone. The ordinary people that he met on the street or business contacts, he could read their facial features and could tell what they were thinking. It gave him an advantage having information like this. With people that he was involved with on a more personal level, well he could read that and so much more. He observed their facial looks and body movements and small nuances, tells if you will. This was especially very helpful at times when he caught Alexis being not so truthful with him about a boy she liked. Yes, she was mature about it, and she wanted to pull one over on him but when she wanted to see him one night for a movie, she used the excuse of going to Paige's house to study he could tell by the way her voice changed, her eyes darted all over the room not looking directly at him, and her body was screaming that she wanted to be anywhere but in the room with him. Eventually, she broke down and told him the truth. He pulled her into a hug and told her as long as he met this new boy in her life, he was fine with her seeing him.

His ability could also be a curse. He hated the fact that he knew what other people were thinking about doing, even before they did. Since he had become Kate Beckett's unpaid tag along and unofficial partner, she was hard to read at first. But since spending just about the last three years with her, he was able to read her better than anyone ever could…. even herself. He knew when she was sad, happy, pissed off, and when she was showing off her softer side towards him, even if they were far and few between. Of course, she'd deny this was the truth, the furthest from it. He guessed that she had kept her feelings close to the vest and walled off her heart emotionally.

As he and Roy talked at Mike Royce's crime scene just a few yards from them, they both turned when her car pulled up. Even before she got out of the car, Rick knew that she was invested in his death on another level. She walked up to them and said,

"Where is he?"

Rick knew at that moment without a doubt that Kate was or is still in love with Mike Royce. She might deny it, but when he looked at her it was written all over her face. When she noticed that he was reading her, she dropped her head donning her detective face almost immediately. Hiding her feelings away from him. Kate had two levels for Rick to read her by. Her first one was strictly about the job. For him when they were assigned a case they were in sync and he could read her so well. Though when it came to an emotional connection to something personal, well then he could really tell what she was thinking. Being able to read her on this level had taken him about two years. What he witnessed as she walked by was something that he was going to regret in the coming days. They watched as she knelt down and brushed his forehead lovingly and then she took note of the crime scene. When she was done Lanie gave her the rundown on how she thought Royce had died and that he left something for her and she handed it to her. Rising up she gave him one last look and turned away from him for the last time.

Rick knew that she was going to catch the son of a bitch that murdered Royce. He thought instead of fighting her, he would help her in any way he could. The one thing he wouldn't do was let her far from his sight. She walked past them without saying a word got in her car and left the crime scene. Rick just looked at Roy and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Come on Castle, I'll give you a ride back to the 12th."

As they drove back Rick had a nagging feeling that she was going to do something that would get her hurt or much worse. He only hoped that she was at the 12th when they got there. When Kate arrived back to the 12th, she asked what Ryan and Esposito had found out. They told her that they tracked down traffic cam footage and found out that their suspect was a Russell Ganz. Since Kate arrived back to the precinct before Castle, she did a quick search on Ganz and found out that he was responsible for a couple of petty crimes when he was younger and for about the last 6 years he had a spotless record. She wrote down his last known address, taken her jacket off the back of the chair, picked up her purse and walked out. When she got home she searched for flights to LA and found one that left at 6:35 am in the morning. She had about 9 hours to get ready for her trip. She was in full huntress mode now and nothing would stand in her way.

Xx

Donald Mannis was more than methodical when it came to finding out about a target. He sat in his car across from the NYPD's 12th precinct. He had observed the long-legged detective with the brunette hair at the crime scene and followed her. What he found out in a short amount of time from watching her was that she was ruthless in her pursuit of piecing together the clues and any other evidence that got her closer to finding out who killed the ex-cop. She was only at the precinct for about 15 minutes and when she left, so did he. He followed her to what he thought was her apartment. So, he waited. And in the time he waited, since she was most likely going to go to sleep, he called a contact here in New York that would guarantee a location for one Violet Young within two hours. Keeping an eye on the window of her apartment he watched as the last light went out. Just as it had, his cell phone rang. When he connected the call, he said nothing. He just listened to the information that was being relayed to him. When the caller hung up he put his phone away, started the car and drove to Brooklyn. Arriving at the address he was given he parked about a block away and got out on foot. He walked up to the front of the property at 871 55th street and just observed as he slowly walked around the front of the house. It was late and he'd use the darkness to his advantage. Sleeping people sometimes forgot to think that this world was still a safe place to live in. He checked the side windows and having no luck he went around the rear of the house. As he looked up at the first-floor window he found what he was looking for. It was extremely warm tonight and the portable fan wedged in the window could easily be overlooked by any homeowner as being safely secured. It wasen't. He slipped on a pair of gloves and pushed the window up with one hand while holding the fan from falling to the floor with the other. Placing it on the floor he climbed in through the open window. Letting his eyes adjust to the darkness he moved through the hallway. Seeing that all was quiet he carefully climbed the stairs to the second floor. There were three bedrooms and one bathroom. Checking the first two he found them empty. Removing his Sig P320 from his shoulder holster, he screws on a silencer and pushes the door open. His target is there on the bed sound asleep. He walks up and notices that she is not alone. What he sees tells him that she knows her bedmate. Maybe even intimately. Whatever it is he doesn't care. He'll just eliminate them both. Knowing that he could have an issue if he takes her out first, her mate might wake up if he hears the gunshot, so he decides to eliminate him first. Walking over to the other side of the bed, he positions himself for two quick head shots. Taking aim at the male he puts a bullet right in the center of his head. Quickly after that he does the same with Violet. Her body spasms after the shot, but that swiftly subsides. He holsters his weapon after removing the silencer. Removing his smartphone from his pocket he takes a picture of Violet, now dead and attaches it to a text and sends it to Ganz fulfilling his promise from earlier.

30 seconds later Ganz replies and tells him to clear out and catch the next flight back to LA. Yeah he'll do that and he will also tell him about a possible addition to the team in the form of one detective Beckett. Because from what he's seen she will be one hell of an adversary.


	4. Chapter 4

This is not an update but rather an explanation of sorts.

I am the kind of person who, once I start something I hate to see it become incomplete. I would never do this to the readers who are following my stories.

"Silent Retreat" was an idea stemming from "To Live and Die in LA." episode.

After considering where I wanted to take this when I outlined the story, I never considered how the readers might not feel comfortable with the way I was writing it. The first couple of chapters are setting up Ganz's history, Royce's murder and the way Beckett will be compromised. This will show how and why Ganz comes into Kate's life before he destroyed it. From there it will get dark. Really dark. And after thinking about this, the way the story plays out there will not be a happy ending between our dynamic duo. But rather, this story would be one involving torture, brainwashing, mind controlling drugs and murder. Not something I think the readers would want. Beckett would come out of this a lot worse for the wear than before she went in and she would not recognize Castle in the least after her being "reconditioned" this, in my opinion, would be a darker and a more depressing experience than season 8. I was not happy with the way the writers handled that entire season.

While I am not abandoning this story, I am not inclined to finish it either. After consulting with a couple of other writers here on FF, they think that the outcome will not be a good one either. So from this point forward this story will be marked as complete.

Thanks,

Pen to Paper


	5. Chapter 5 AN

This is not an update, but rather a request for the readers who have expressed that I continue this story with delivery to them via PM or DocX.

You know who you are so what you need to do is send me a PM so I am able to set up a list of readers who want the next chapters. Who I have so far are:

41319

will30

If there are any other readers who would like me to send them the next chapters going forward, please send me a PM. Posting via PM will happen as usual on Sunday around 7 am. (EST) Again, this story is a side project and chapters will be limited due to work and personal commitments. Updates will not be arriving on a weekly basis.

Thanks,

P2P


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